Archive for February, 2011

You might remember my post some time back about Michael Zulli’s masterwork graphic novel Fracture of the Universal Boy. The part of my earlier post that’s been circulating as promo for the fundraiser (via Bleeding Cool) is this:

What Michael Zulli has crafted with his masterpiece The Fracture of the Universal Boy is- and I say this without the slightest hesitation- more aligned with Symbolist literature such as Joris-Karl Huysman‘s 1891 novel Le Bas (“Down There” or “The Damned”) than anything else I can think of. The poet Stéphane Mallarmé articulated the scope of the term Symbolism, stating “Suggestion, that is the dream”, and the dream/awake//surreal/hyper-real elements that make up The Fracture of the Universal Boy have absolutely NOTHING to do with anything I’ve ever seen happen in comics.

I don’t know yet how to sum it up in a brief passage, but the random fragments in my head are this:

(2) Like Schiller said (and Klimt repeated), it is the artist’s duty to RAISE and EXPAND the consciousness of the public, not to feed them whatever smooth flavors they order. See #1.

(3) This is not an easy read. It’s harsh, melodramatic, overbearing, passionate… and captures in crystalline fashion EXACTLY the experiences of the artist- saying everything, while revealing nothing. In short- this is, by definition, a perfect piece of ART. Its sentiments are literally timeless, but it could only have been created today. Its message would be equally as potent in 1810, 1910, 2010, and 2110.

Zulli has done a rare thing, which is brought the elements that made Symbolism an important movement, and found a way to make it relevant and contemporary. Even if you feel the Pre-Raphaelite leanings of his commercial stories with Neil Gaiman are too saccharin, if you are honest with yourself when you read The Fracture of the Universal Boy you will be forced to admit that in this book the ink brush has cut completely past the velvet, through the twitching muscle, cracked the bone, and gone down to the very marrow of the artist-

And THAT is a RARE and PRECIOUS thing.

I’m happy to report that Michael has renewed interest in releasing the book!!! Century Guild (Olympian Publishing) is not affiliated with the new edition, however Ryan Graff is an elegant and tasteful man and he has started a Kickstarter campaign to finance the production via his Eiodolon Fine Arts. I maintain that this is a brilliant volume that will NOT disappoint. $45 for a quality book- and I would feel very confident that Misters Graff and Zulli will be top-notch on this front- is a small price to pay for the physical thing, and when you take into account the METAphysical… the resultant volume is priceless.

We’ve added another voice to the Cursed Pirate Girl radio play… joining Stephanie Leonidas (Cursed Pirate Girl), Robert Boulter (Narrator and Mister Spekle), Dave McKean and Grant Morrison (the Swordfish Brothers), and Randy Couture (Sharky)- in the role of the indomitable Captain Holly… John C. Reilly! Yay!

After a wonderful day including armor, Dungeons & Dragons, vintage guitars, and… wait for it… CLOWN PAINTINGS! John lay down the voice for the surly villain with a delivery that exceeded my already high expectations.

Thomas Negovan with John C. Reilly, reading the part of Captain Holly.

"Yer a cruddy little stowaway!!!"

After San Diego Comic Con last summer, we’ve been going SO nonstop I haven’t had even a moment to post a “real” blog update. We had gallery construction:

Lyta may not have opposable thumbs, but has found that her snaggletooth makes an excellent demolition tool.

Opening night at Century Guild: Grand Guignol. Because Good Taste shouldn't be a subculture.

Then a bunch of shoots for a TV show that we can’t talk about (but whose premiere commanded four million viewers…), travelling to negotiate some fabulous artifacts away from Shaolin monks and Parisian bordello owners, and preparing for our next show: LOVE AND OTHER VIOLATIONS, this coming weekend! Celebrate love and lust with us on February 19th if you’re in Chicago. 6-9 pm, we’re feeling the Valentine’s Day spirit! Here are some of the artworks for this weekend’s show:

Rod wrangles the teeming hordes of Thomas Jane fans for us. His signings in our booth caused a bit of a traffic jam. (Ok, MORE than a bit, there was a whole security contingent issued to sort the mayhem.)

I am averaging about one post a decade at this pace. Let’s relive the magic and splendor of Comic Con with the belief that if a picture tells a thousand words, you are about to experience a million word essay!

It is always magical to see Brian Froud and his wife Wendy, the artists who created the visuals for The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. (Photo taken by Dave McKean, director of MirrorMask, the third of the three Jim Henson fantasy films.)

Jim Rose (holding up a vintage poster for his Circus) is right: San Diego Comic Con is full of the strangest things one will EVER see...

An example of the aforementioned insanity... From Art Nouveau... to LEGOs! In only twenty paces!

Because Michaelanne LOVES "CHiPs"! Her first celebrity connection at Comic Con? Erik Estrada!